I have said earlier in the thread that I believe jack stall to be a negative in the 350 series, but less so than say the left pedal issues of the UH-1 series, the LTE issues apparent in the B206, teetering heads, etc etc etc. The aircraft will continue to exhibit these issues unless engineered out - ie unless big bucks spent. In the mean time, we have to fall back on warnings and training.
It is apparent from this thread that endorsement training is quite inadequate. I make that claim based on the amount of qualified AS350 pilots either hearing about jack stall, or finding out about recovery techniques for the first time here on this thread. Limitations of particular airframe types need to be demonstrated and explored during any type rating. Particualr recovery techniques for that airframe, things to avoid, and gotchas are all high on the list of MINIMUM things you need to cover in a type rating, yet that doesn't seem to be a prevalent theme. For example:
Several pilots quoted in the report theorized Mezaki may have encountered the "jack-stall" phenomenon.
In 2000, another pilot dove into the canyon at about 120 knots. He lost control of the helicopter and the rotor nearly hit the side of the canyon. He thought he was going to die and gave up steering, which ironically returned the controls to normal.
I am suprised that there are AS350 pilots out there that have not seen jack stall during type ratings.
Do we have a training issue in the industry?